Who's who in Donald Trump's administration? The US president's top advisers and cabinet nominees

Donald Trump has selected the key figures for his new government as he takes office as the 45th president of the United States. Here are the names we know.

Reince Priebus

Reince PriebusCredit:
AP

Age: 44

Current role: Chairman of the Republican National Committee

Trump administration role: White House Chief of Staff

Mr Priebus has more than a decade of experience in Republican politics, and has been credited with bringing some major Republican figures, including Mr Trump's one-time foe Paul Ryan, onto the national stage.

He attended the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, where he was president of the College Republicans, and later the University of Miami.

After starting out in law, he became the youngest chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party in 2007. He was considered instrumental in guiding the state Republican party to success in the 2010 midterm elections, by uniting the burgeoning Tea Party movement with the mainstream.

Throughout the campaign, he was known for providing Mr Trump with a channel to Republican establishment, and for pressuring the party's big players to fall in line behind the nominee.

Steve Bannon

Steve BannonCredit:
CARLO ALLEGRI/Reuters

Age:62

Current role: Trump campaign chief

Trump administration role: Chief strategist

Mr Bannon has transformed himself from working class Navy man to Goldman Sachs financier, Hollywood producer and then king of America’s Right-wing media.

In 2012, he became the executive chairman of Breitbart News, described by Bloomberg as “a haven for people who think Fox News is too polite and restrained.” He gave up the post to become Trump's campaign manager in August.

Frequently seen dressed in cargo shorts and flip-flops, and known for his love of the word "dude", Mr Bannon appears to revel in the controversy that surrounds him.

Ms Piccard said in a 2007 court declaration that Mr Bannon did not want their twin daughters attending the Archer School for Girls in Los Angeles because many Jewish students were enrolled at the elite institution.

Mr Bannon has denied the accusations.

James Mattis

Credit:
AFP

Age: 66

Current role: Retired Marine Corps general, former commander of US Central Command

Trump administration role: Secretary of Defence

One of the most venerated military leaders of his generation, Mr Mattis will need a Congressional waiver to join Mr Trump’s cabinet because he retired so recently- in 2013.

Known for his gruff manner of speaking as well as his aptitude for military strategy, he has acquired nicknames ranging from Mad Dog to Warrior Monk.

Among the many colourful quotes attributed to him is, "be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet."

He has long advocated an aggressive approach to Iran, and his views toward the country reportedly harmed his relationship with the Obama administration.

Mr Mattis commanded troops during the invasion of Iraq and the battle for Fallujah before boing selected to lead US central command.

Steven Mnuchin

Credit:
Reuters

Age: 53

Current role: investment banker and Hollywood investor

Trump administration role: Treasury Secretary

Mr Mnuchin spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs, where his father was also an executive, before founding a hedge fund.

He helped bankroll films such as Avatar and the X-Men franchise, before joining the Trump campaign as finance chairman.

Mr Mnuchin is not as well known as some of his predecessors at the helm of the treasury, and reportedly beat out the likes of Jamie Dimon, the JP Morgan CEO, for the nomination.

He has pledged the “biggest tax change” since the Reagan administration, and to pursue only bilateral trade deals rather than regional accords.

Jeff Sessions

Jeff SessionsCredit:
MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS

Age:69

Current Role: Senator from Alabama

Trump administration role: Attorney general

A two-decade veteran of Alabama politics, Mr Sessions is popular in his state and was the first senator to back Mr Trump, in February.

He is known principally for two facts: taking a very hard line on immigration, and being only the second ever candidate for federal judge rejected by the approval committee – for racism.

In 1986 Mr Sessions, then a 39-year-old US attorney in Alabama, was blocked from the federal role after his former colleagues testified that Mr Sessions used the n-word, referred to a black colleague as “boy” and joked about the Ku Klux Klan, saying he thought they were "okay, until he learned that they smoked marijuana."

By the time the testimony was finished, Mr Sessions's "reputation was in tatters," and he has since described it as one of the hardest times of his life – and denied he is racist.

In office he has opposed nearly every immigration bill that has come before the Senate which has included a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally, and also fought legal immigration, including guest worker programmes and visas for foreign workers in science, math and high-tech.

Like Mr Trump, he is sceptical of climate change. But unlike Mr Trump, he is adverse to government spending – setting the stage for an interesting battle if the president-elect presses ahead with his massive infrastructure plan.

Mike Pompeo

Mike PompeoCredit:
Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Age: 52

Current role: Congressman for Kansas

Trump administration role: CIA director

A West Point and Harvard Law graduate who represents the Wichita area in the House, Mr Pompeo was elected in 2011 after founding an aerospace company.

He received significant funding from the Wichita-based billionaire Koch brothers, and in power has echoed their positions of climate change scepticism, free market economics and libertarian beliefs.

He is vehemently opposed to the Iran deal. Mr Pompeo sat on the Benghazi investigation committee, calling Hillary Clinton’s actions “morally reprehensible,” and is strongly opposed to closing Guantanamo – in particular because one of the proposals would see prisoners transferred to a high security prison in his district.

He has defended waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation techniques" as being "within the law".

Denounced as torture by a 2014 senate report, this is a practice that Mr Trump has said he supports, “and a whole lot worse”.

Michael Flynn

Michael FlynnCredit:
GARY CAMERON/REUTERS

Age: 57

Current role: Retired Lieutenant General and former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency

Trump administration role: National security adviser

Joining the US army in 1981 Mr Flynn served in multiple combat zones including in Iraq and Afghanistan. He rose through the ranks and in September 2011, he was promoted to role of Lieutenant General.

A year later President Barack Obama appointed him to become the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

But he was fired only two years later after clashing with superiors over what was reported to be his "chaotic management style". He said he said he was forced into retirement for questioning the Obama administration’s narrative that al-Qaeda was close to defeat.

His subordinates said he was often loose with the truth and coined the term "Flynn facts".

Mr Flynn has said he views Islamist militancy as an existential threat on a global scale. He has previously called Islam "a cancer" and declared that he is "at war" with the religion.

Mr Flynn also has apparently close ties to Russia. In 2015, he attended a gala dinner in Moscow in honor of Russia Today, the state television channel and was photographed sitting beside Vladimir Putin, the Russian president.

The billionaire businessman and philanthropist from the Johnson & Johnson family has known Mr Trump for years, but originally supported rival Jeb Bush in the Republican primaries.

The ambassadorial appointment will need to be approved by the US Senate.

Nikki Haley

Nikki HaleyCredit:
Getty

Age: 44

Current role: Governor of South Carolina

Trump administration role: Ambassador to the UN

The first woman and first minority chosen by Donald Trump for his Cabinet.

Mrs Haley, a mother of two, is in her second-term as governor of South Carolina.

She was a Trump critic during the White House campaign endorsing Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

At the time she said Mr Trump was "everything a governor doesn't want in a president."

After Mr Rubio dropped out she backed Ted Cruz. Once Mr Trump became the nominee she said she would vote for him but the choice of him or Hillary Clinton turned her stomach.

Mrs Haley became the second US governor of Indian heritage, and the first South Carolina governor who is not a white man.

She has had little exposure on the world stage and almost all of that has been in pursuit of luring jobs to South Carolina.

John Kelly

John Kelly (R) met with Donald Trump at his golf course in New JerseyCredit:
EPA

Age: 66

Current role: retired Marine Corps general and commander of US Southern Command

Trump administration role: Secretary of Homeland Security

During his time at the helm of US Southern Command, the former four-star general oversaw the Guantanamo prison camp and took a tough stance on control of the US-Mexico border.

He commanded troops in the Iraq War and in 2010 had the unwanted distinction of being the highest-ranking officer to have a child killed in Iraq or Afghanistan when his son Robert was killed in action in Helmand province in 2010.

Kelly was the third general nominated for a high-ranking role in the Trump administration.

Wilbur Ross

Credit:
Reuters

Age: 79

Current role: Investor specialising in buying up distressed businesses

Trump administration role: Commerce secretary

A billionaire investor, Mr Ross helped save his future boss's three Atlantic City casinos in 1990 when Mr Trump's real estate empire was heavily in debt.

Mr Ross made his fortune investing in struggling companies, and is considered a Wall St insider.

He is a vocal opponent of regional trade deals like the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, and wants to negotiate bilaterally with America's trade partners.